It is a longstanding common phenomenon that many children develop the habit of sucking one thumb or finger as an apparent means of pacification. The habit typically begins in infancy and usually is outgrown during early childhood development, although some children continue the practice into adolescence. The cause of this habit is unknown, but regardless of the cause most child development authorities agree that the habit can lead to dental deformities and other similar medical problems if not corrected during early childhood development. Over the years, parents, physicians and other childhood development authorities have proposed and utilized various techniques for deterring children from this practice but no technique has yet been developed which provides continuing reliable results. Close supervision of a child together with repetitive admonishment to avoid the practice seem to provide the greatest degree of success during a child's waking hours. However, experience has generally proven that children nevertheless tend to return to the practice during sleeping hours.